Our first-ever Ballad Health Team Member Survey is coming up Oct. 8-22, and we encourage every Ballad Health team member to participate. We want to know how team members across the system feel about working for Ballad Health. This is a chance for you to let your voice be heard anonymously through a survey administered by Press Ganey. The results will go directly to Press Ganey and no one from Ballad Health will see how any particular team member responded; instead, Ballad Health will only see the overall results of the survey. The survey opens Tuesday, Oct. 8. You’ll receive an email invitation from Press Ganey with your unique link to the survey. This is important for us to recognize, as a system, where our strengths lie, as well as our opportunities for improvement. We hope everyone will participate and give honest answers. There will be drawings for great prizes to reward team member participation….

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – Would you like to attend the East Tennessee State University football team play host to Austin Peay on Sept. 21 – and watch it from the comfort of a skybox suite? All you have to do is tell us why ETSU is special to you, as a Ballad Health team member. What does it mean to have a partner in our community like East Tennessee State? We all know ETSU and Ballad Health collaborate in many ways already – we’re the official healthcare provider of ETSU athletics – and the future holds tremendous potential for doing even greater things together. Send us your thoughts on what ETSU means to you, in 500 words or fewer, plus a photo of yourself, and you’ll be entered to be one of the ticket winners. Submit with a photo by Friday at noon, to socialmedia@balladhealth.org. All entries will be judged and the winners will be…

Ballad Health is offering training classes titled “Active Shooter: How to Identify, Plan, Respond and Survive,” at all facilities over the coming months. These voluntary, free training sessions are in addition to the CBL all team members must complete covering active shooter response. The classes include more details as well as an in-depth presentation on workplace violence. Registration is through HealthStream (go here to log in). Go to “To Do,” then “Find an Elective in the Catalog,” and do a search for “active shooter.” If you need instructions on how to enroll for a class in HealthStream, check out these instructions. For more information, contact Ken Harr, Ballad Health’s chief security officer and corporate director for security, safety & emergency management, at 423-431-7772. More classes will be scheduled so be on the lookout for more information. Facility Date Time Location Southeast Market Unicoi County Thurs, Aug. 8 10 a.m.-noon UCH Conf. Room Johnson County Thurs, Sept….

Today is Election Day for several offices in Sullivan County. Get out the vote! For more information on your precinct and hours, visit https://tnsos.org/elections/election_commissions.php. If you have questions about voting, contact our Ballad Health Office of Community & Government Relations at 423-844-2821 or lori.stout@balladhealth.org.    

We’ve already received some great project submissions for the annual Ballad Health Excellence Awards but there’s still time to submit more – so if you’ve got something to enter, please share it with the rest of the system! The project submission period runs through July 1, 2019, and the inaugural Ballad Health Excellence Awards will be held on Oct. 1, 2019, at MeadowView Conference Resort & Convention Center in Kingsport. To submit a project, look on the Ballad Health intranet home page under “Quick Links” on the left side. Connect to “Ballad Health Excellence Awards” for more information about how to submit an improvement project. If you’ve been involved in a project to improve your work and you can show the positive results – whether it’s clinically, financially or in other ways – this is a chance to be recognized for your success and to share your improvement story with the whole system. For example, if…

What’s it like to work as a nurse at Ballad Health? As part of our celebration of National Nurses Week, leaders from Ballad Health decided to find out first-hand. Nearly 70 members of executive and senior leadership visited 17 facilities on Wednesday as part of Walk a Mile with a Nurse, shadowing selected nurses for four hours as they went about their frontline work. This eye-opening experience allowed the leaders to view the daily provision of patient care and workflow responsibilities of nursing while showing their appreciation to our frontline team members. “It was a reminder of the honorable work nurses do every day,” said Tom Tull, VP, chief experience officer, who spent time at Holston Valley Medical Center. “The nurse I shadowed, Hannah, did an incredible job showing me what she goes through. The teamwork displayed was exemplary in taking care of patients and each other. It was a joy to watch them take…

Early voting begins in Sullivan County, Tennessee, in several local elections. Be sure you get out to vote! For more information, visit http://tnsos.org/elections/election_commissions.php. For questions, contact the Ballad Health Office of Community & Government Relations at 423-844-2821 or lori.stout@balladhealth.org.

UPDATE: The deadline for nominating someone for the Servant’s Heart Award is Thursday, Jan. 31. See the link below, or access the submission page by clicking on the banner at the top of the Ballad Health intranet home page. Do you know someone here at Ballad Health who routinely goes above and beyond the normal call of duty to help others? If so, please consider nominating them for the Scott and Nikki Niswonger Servant’s Heart Award. You can nominate your fellow Ballad Health team members, including physicians and volunteers, for this honor by visiting this link and describing why your nominee is deserving. Servant’s Heart Awards are given out in four categories: frontline team members, leadership, physicians and volunteers. This is a great way for us to celebrate the outstanding work being done every day by team members within our health system. This nomination period is open for all Ballad Health team members through Jan. 31,…

ERWIN & JONESBOROUGH, Tenn. – Ballad Health and the International Storytelling Center have announced a new partnership designed to embed storytelling into the culture of the new Unicoi County Hospital in Erwin. The innovative partnership represents a first-of-its-kind collaboration between an arts organization and a health system, working together to find new ways to serve patients and promote healthy habits across communities. The hospital – which opened on Oct. 23 – is the first hospital in the country to partner with the International Storytelling Center and integrate storytelling into patient care. The proximity of the two organizations offers a unique opportunity to work on a storytelling-based healthcare initiative designed to serve as a model for the rest of the nation. “So many people in our area have a special story or unique tie to our hospital,” said Eric Carroll, administrator of Unicoi County Hospital. “I’m excited about the ways the International Storytelling Center can help…

Ballad Health is accepting applications through March 31 for the 2019 nurse intern II program, which will kick off on June 7. The eight-week program is offered annually during the months of June and July. During the program, RN nursing students preparing to graduate in the next 12 months are paid to participate in educational offerings and a preceptorship in a chosen clinical area of the organization. The goal of the nurse intern II program is to assist nursing students in the process of bridging the gap between theory and clinical practice while also working to attract and maintain the highest quality healthcare professionals to work for Ballad Health. The program is a collaborative effort of the corporate human resources department, corporate clinical education department and the individual Ballad Health facilities. Last year, Ballad Health hosted 134 nurse interns, providing them the opportunity to experience a nursing internship with an RN preceptor. Upon completion of…

Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 6. If you haven’t already voted, this is the day. We all know a little exercise is good for you – so exercise your right to vote! For more information on your precinct and hours, visit: Tennessee: https://tnsos.org/elections/election_commissions.php Virginia: http://elections.virginia.gov/ If you have other questions, contact the Ballad Health Office of Community & Government Relations at 423-844-2821 or lori.stout@balladhealth.org.